I Vow to Protect You
by yaminojigoku
Summary: Due to some strange event, Yami (Atem) finds unconscious Yugi in the Egyptian spiritual world. But the happy reunion between Yugi and Yami doesn't last long when Bakura has something evil plotting that requires using Yugi's body as a human sacrifice. To stop Bakura, Yami and Yugi are sent to the future and they meet Yuma and Astral who are just like them. (Light PuzzleShipping)
1. Reunite with Atem!

**Hello this is my first YuGiOh fanfiction! I really love both Yugioh series and the new Yugioh Zexal series. I was wondering what would happen if Yugi, Yami, Yuma and Astral meet up? **

**Here are some... uh... points to the story!**

**1) Hmm.. So far I think there will be light/fluff puzzleshipping (If you want you can see it as brotherly love thing lol) We'll see how it goes XD**

**2) The story will revolve around Yugi and Yami, even though there is Yuma and Astral,**

**3) You don't have to know the whole story of Yugioh Zexal to understand this story since Yugi and Yami are the main.**

**4) Yugi in this story is 18 while Yuma is 15 (I understand Yuma is 13? in the series but I thought 15 would be good!) **

**5) Few fluffy keyshipping? I don't know yet lol!**

* * *

It's been exactly one year ever since the ceremonial duel between two duelists who used to share the Millennium Puzzle. Yugi Muto had a difficult time saying goodbye to his close friend who was the former pharaoh of Egypt but separation was something that Yugi expected. Even though it would have been great if the spirit named Yami could stay with Yugi forever just like how he once told him but that's just not how the reality worked. After going through so many adventures and adversities together, Yugi had to finally release Yami to his afterlife.

This was one year ago.

Yugi Muto was now 18 years old and just like the rest of the previous high school students, he attends Domino University. Tea decided to do a broad study in order to gain some experience towards different dancing style while Joey and Tristan managed to somehow magically get enrolled into Domino University as well. Kaiba didn't plan to attend the university since he was already busy with his famous cooperation and business areas.

Even though Yugi had a normal school life, he couldn't help but to feel depressed every time when he thought about the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle. Yugi still continued to duel since Duel Monsters evolved more than simple card games. There were even high schools and colleges that were specifically designed to train students to become professional duelists as their future careers. Joey suggested that Yugi should have attended a dueling university instead of a normal school but Yugi insisted. To be honest, every time when Yugi saw duel monsters, he felt emptiness in his heart.

Ever since Yami left, Yugi started to duel less. The only time when he actually played the card game was when his friends begged him or when Kaiba invited Yugi into his tournament to take the title of "The King of Games." But every time when Yugi dueled someone, he would always win no matter what and he was somewhat happy that his dueling skills didn't rust away just yet.

"That was some crazy midterm! I need some serious break or I'm going to crack for sure!" Joey stretched out his arm and yawned.

"Yeah right, Joey. I saw you sleeping half way through the midterm. You don't have to pretend you were working so hard to solve those questions," Tristan laughed at his buddy but instantly backed away when Joey tried to hit him with his school bag.

"Shut up Tristan! It's not like you did any better," said Joey.

"I told you puling an all-nighter was a bad idea Joey," Yugi gave out a weak smile as he sighed a little.

"Yeah~Yeah. Wait until you guys see the awesome score I get when the professor passes back the test," said Joey with confidence.

"Right, I bet your name is going to be on the bottom of the-"

"So Yug, I heard that Kaiba is opening a winter tournament duel. The winner gets prize money of ten thousand dollars!" said Joey as he covered Tristan's mouth with his right hand. "Are you going to enter?"

"I'm not sure about this one, Joey," Yugi shrugged his shoulder, "I mean, I heard that this one has nothing to do with fighting over "the King of Games" title so maybe I should sit this one out. But I can cheer for you," Yugi smiled.

"Yeah," Tristan managed to free himself, "Yugi is being nice by not entering. Maybe you can finally have a chance Joey."

"Grr.. Tristan!" Joey felt his vain pop, "I hope you enter the tournament too so I can beat you up in front of the whole audience!"

As Tristan and Joey continued to fight, they finally reached their dorm apartment. But since today was Friday, Yugi decided to go visit his grandfather by taking the bus.

"You sure you don't want to visit your grandpa tomorrow? We could just go down together you know," asked Joey.

"It's cool Joey. I promised I would visit my grandpa today anyways. I'll see you guys tomorrow, then?"

"Sure, see you later, Yug!" Joey waved his hand.

"Yeah, don't get yourself into danger," Tristan also called back and the two roommates finally entered the apartment.

As Yugi walked down from his university to the bus stop, he felt as if someone was stalking him down few feet away. But every time when he turned, there was nobody there.

_'Am I just imagining things?'_ Yugi tilted his head in confusion. _'I remember when Yami was here, we used to talk a lot when I wasn't with my friends. Now… it just feels…'_

"Hello Yugi, long time no see."

"W-what?" Yugi turned around but he didn't see anyone standing behind him. The voice continued to speak through the thin air.

"But let's make this story short. I want you to be my human sacrifice to get my hands on the ultimate power to rebuild this world once again," the dark voice chuckled.

"Ultimate power?" Yugi was still a little skeptical. It's been a while since he had to deal with super natural events ever since Yami left to his after-life.

"Atem, ring any bell?"

"…? You're not making any sense!" Yugi quickly countered. Who was this mysterious voice and how in the world does he know about Yami in the first place? "Show yourself, you coward! I bet you're just making up stories and-"

Then all of the sudden, a human figure finally appeared in front of Yugi's eyes.

"B-bakura?" Yugi stepped back a little, realizing that something was horribly wrong. "No.. it's can't be."

"Hello there little Yugi," Yami Bakura smiled as he presented the Millennium Puzzle that clearly belonged to Yami.

"How did you get your hands on those?!" Yugi recalled all the Millennium items getting buried away in the temple once the ceremonial duel was over, "No scratch that, I thought I would never see you again!"

"Well think again and it took me a lot of time and energy to finally find this treasure," Yami Bakura took the Millennium Puzzle and was about to wear it around his neck. At the same time, Yugi's instinct told him that something bad would happen if he lets Yami Bakura wear the necklace.

"Give it back! It doesn't belong to you!" Yugi shouted as he ran to the villain and tried to take the Millennium Puzzle away.

"Ha! Once I wear this, I am going to use your body as a human sacrifice!" Yami Bakura's laughter echoed into Yugi's ears.

"I don't know how you came back here but I won't let you!" Yugi pulled harder and just then, the Millennium Puzzle started to glow in bright light that blinded both Yami Bakura and Yugi.

"Arrrg…! What's going on? This puzzle is not supposed to activate until someone wears it!" The white haired spirit screamed.

"… What's going on….?" Yugi had his eyes shut tightly but he refused to let go of the most precious item.

* * *

**(After Life or spiritual world!)**

Yami was walking along the trail of small river that was located a little further away from his kingdom. Ever since his spirit was freed from the puzzle that once trapped his soul, Yami was able to enter his after-life also known as the spirit world to rest in peace. However, nothing was really special if you asked the pharaoh. Everything was still the same. He continued to rule the Egypt just like how he would have had during his past life and he continued to talk to his friends, royal servants and peasants who visited him. Once in a while there would be some threats who would challenge the pharaoh but Yami managed to win against every adversities. It really just felt like he was re-living his past history once again.

Most of the time, Yami was at peace but there were many times when he wished that his soul was trapped back to the Millennium Puzzle again. He would be able to continue his life with his lighter half, Yugi.

It was true that Yami enjoyed living his after life with people he cared about but he also missed all the events that he shared with Yugi as well. When the ceremonial duel was over, Yami actually thought about just staying back in the real world with Yugi and his friends. But he also knew that that would not be the correct decision to make. Yugi had his own life now and Yami couldn't forever interfere with Yugi's personal business. He sometimes wondered how much Yugi had grown. Yami stopped walking and saw his own reflection in the river with a glum look on his face.

"Yugi… I hope you still have memories of all the things we went through together," Yami murmured.

"My pharaoh!" One of Yami's servant ran to the king of Egypt with an alert look on her face riding a black horse.

"Forgive me if I am interrupting anything," said the servant as she quickly got off from the horse, "But I have an urgent news!"

"Go on," Yami gestured his hand.

"While I was walking down the village to check everything was in order, I saw… I.."

"Yes? What is it?"

"I… I'm not sure if I am pronouncing the name correctly but I remember you once telling me about a boy name Yugi Muto. A boy who resembles you?"

When Yami heard Yugi's name, his attention was now sharply focused to the girl. When the pharaoh didn't say anything, the servant thought it would be best if she kept explaining the situation.

"I think Yugi is in this spirit world, my pharaoh!"

"W-what? Yugi is here? How is that even possible?" Yami's eyes went wide open as he thought about the possibilities. "Where is he now? Is he wandering off?

"No my pharaoh, he seems to be unconscious," replied the servant. "I didn't really know what to do so I thought it would be best for me to bring this to your attention and let you decide. "

"Yugi is unconscious?!"

At that moment, Yami's worry for his lighter-self grew instantly as he felt his heart rate increased faster. What would have happened to him? Was it safe for Yugi to be in his after-life in the first place? Most importantly, was Yugi safe at this current situation?

"I'm going to take the horse," said Yami as he rode on to the black horse, "Where was he located?"

"In the east side of our palace not too far away from the main oasis," she quickly answered.

"While I go and find Yugi, go and bring Seto and Isis. Maybe they can help deal with this situation."

"Should I bring Mana and Mahad as well, my pharaoh?"

"Yes, that would be good. We might need to gather all the knowledge to solve this matter." The king of Egypt then took off as fast as he could to the location where his servant had claimed to find Yugi. As the horse ran with his fastest speed, Yami couldn't simply figure out what could have caused Yugi to appear into the spiritual world. Yami actually would have been very happy to see Yugi if he didn't hear the unconscious part from his royal servant. As Yami let out a huge sigh, he began to see the main oasis. Few seconds later, he saw a small boy that had his face flat against the sand wearing the signature blue jacket and jeans.

_'No.. it can't be. It's really Yugi?'_ The pharaoh couldn't believe his eyes as his horse finally came to a stop.

"Yugi!" Yami got off from the horse and gently flipped the boy over and to his surprise, it was non other than his partner from the previous year. "Yugi, Yugi! Please wake up, or say something." The pharaoh gently shook the teenage boy in his arms and few seconds later, he felt a small movement.

"…..Ng…. " Yugi's eyes began to slowly reveal his purple eyes._ 'It's so hard to open them… what's with this sun light…?'_ Yugi thought to himself.

"Yugi! Are you alright? Are you hurt somewhere?" said the pharaoh as he used his free hand to dust off some sand against Yugi's face.

"… That voice…" Yugi whispered before fully opening his eyes. The first thing that Yugi witnessed was a person with a tanned skin who shared similar feature as himself. The person had tri-colored hair, more sharper eyes than Yugi, an Egyptian crown on the forehead that had the symbol of the Millennium Eye, few golden accessories and the famous Millennium Puzzle necklace.

"Ya.. Yami?!" Yugi finally managed to stutter the name that crossed his mind. "Is that really you?"

When Yami heard Yugi's voice, a huge rush of relief filled his heart as the pharaoh smiled in happiness.

"Yes, it's me, Yugi. You scared me so much," Yami gave the concerned look as he helped his lighter half stand up properly. "Hmm.. I see you've grown a little when we departed." The king of Egypt noticed that Yugi's height was now similar as his own.

"I see you're the same as ever Yami," then Yugi mentally slapped himself for not using the pharaoh's real name since Yami was just a label his spirit of the puzzle used, "I mean, Atem," Yugi corrected himself with a slight embarrassment.

Yami quickly waved off his hand, "You can call me Yami if you want Yugi. I've grown accustomed to hear that name from you anyways, it doesn't really bother me at all," he said with a smile.

"Hope you don't mind then," Yugi chuckled and went a little closer to the spirit to give him a hug, "I just never thought I would see you again, Yami. I… I really did miss you a lot ever since our soul separated."

Yami's eyes softened when he received a warm hug from Yugi.

"I'm glad that you didn't forget about me too, Yugi."

"Forget you?" Yugi gently pulled himself from Yami to face him, "Don't joke around, Yami. I would never forget the person who made a huge difference in my life. In a good way, of course."

Yami let out a soft laughter, "The same goes for me too. I always wondered how you were doing back in the real world and there were times when I tried to find a way for me to connect myself to you spiritually but that wasn't very successful," Yami shook his head a little, "But let's talk about the important things first. What happened to you? Why were you unconscious? I don't know how you managed to come to this spiritual world but… wait… Yugi why do you have the Millennium Puzzle in your hand?" Yami pointed to the yellow puzzle that Yugi had as he touched the same puzzle that was around his own neck.

"O-Oh right," Yugi also noticed that there were two Millennium Puzzles. One that he was holding and the one that Yami wore. "I don't know if you're going to believe this but I saw Bakura! I mean not our friend Bakura but the one from the Millennium Ring, the evil spirit!"

"But that's not possible…" Yami trailed off, allowing his partner to continue.

"I don't know what happened but he managed to have the Millennium Puzzle and he said something about using me as a human sacrifice and-"

"What?!" Yami shouted as his anger started to boil down. He didn't like the sound of this and the trouble that Yami Bakura caused for Yugi, "Yugi… please don't tell me you're in this spirit world because…"

"Don't worry, Yami," Yugi raised hands in the air as he forced a weak smile, "I don't remember dying so I doubt that's what happened."

"Good, my rage might have woken up the gods." The pharaoh rolled his eyes.

"Then I tried to steal the Millennium Puzzle back from Bakura and suddenly, the puzzle started to glow... out of nowhere! Then I remember Bakura saying something about how the puzzle shouldn't activate… and then I assume that's when I fainted," said Yugi as he wore the Millennium Puzzle just like how Yami had his.

"The Millennium Puzzle must have tried to protect you and maybe that's the reason why you were brought here," Yami tried to reason but there were so many questions that he had regarding Bakura. How was he able to bring himself back to Yugi's world? Was Yugi even safe staying at the spiritual world since he wasn't dead yet?

"I'm just as confused as you are…" Yugi trailed off.

"What's important is that you're safe for now, Yugi," said Yami as he placed his hand on top of his partner's shoulder. "I asked my servant to bring Seto and Isis to help us solve this case and hopefully send you back to your world."

"I don't know Yami, I kind of like staying in this spiritual Egypt world with you," Yugi tried to banter since he felt like he brought so much problems for Yami to deal with.

Yami got the hint that Yugi was just trying to lighten up the mood that was between them.

"The after life is not as great as it sounds, Yugi," said Yami as he petted the black horse behind him, "It just feels like reliving my past life again."

"Past life as a pharaoh, which is cool, Yami" Yugi pointed out.

"Yes, but I do miss being back in the real world where I was able to spend my time with you as well."

The sentence that escaped from Yami's lips caused Yugi to smile instantly. Yugi thought he must be very lucky to be destined to meet Yami who was kind and supportive when they once shared one body.

"Yami I… wait," Yugi's attention went to a crowd of people that was few feet away from where he and Yami stood. "Uh… any idea why those people are running over here?"

The pharaoh turned around to see hoard of angry looking people all running towards him and Yugi with various types of weapons. To Yami's surprise, Isis, Mana and even Mahad were part of the angry mob as well.

"There he is!" One man who had a large sword in his hand pointed at Yami. As the crowd came closer, Yami instantly stood in front of Yugi to protect his lighter half as he tried to understand the situation.

"Isis, what is the meaning of this?" Yami demanded to the woman who possessed the Millennium Necklace.

"In the name of our pharaoh Bakura, we must kill Atem and use Yugi as a human offering," said Isis and thousands of people behind her agreed.

"Pharaoh Bakura?" Yugi furrowed his eyes, "Yami, I mean Atem is your king. What are you guys talking about?"

"We have to capture them before they run away!" Mana, who resembled the dark magician girl, held her wand high into the air as she tried to summon a wall of fire to not let Yami and Yugi escape.

"Yugi stay behind me," Yami warned his partner as he used his own power to counter Mana's spells.

"Kill Atem in the name of Pharaoh Bakura! Kill Atem in the name of Pharaoh Bakura!" People continued to chant and even Yami didn't know what to do at this situation.

"I'm sorry, Yami," Yugi sheepishly apologized, "I must have caused something."

"No Yugi, it's not your fault at all. I bet the spirit of the Millennium Ring has to do with this."

"My Pharaoh!" Both Yugi and Yami heard the familiar voice from their back and when they turned around, it was Priest Seto running towards them with the Millennium Rod.

"It's Kaiba!" yelled Yugi, "I mean, Priest Seto," Yugi frowned at himself again for the incorrect name usage.

"Bakura managed to enter this world and he affected everyone's mind with the stone card called change of heart," Seto explained, "I was protected by the powers of the Millennium Rod but as you can see, everyone now believes that you are a threat to Egypt and Bakura is the pharaoh."

"No, then we have to find Bakura and stop him!" shouted Yugi.

"Yes, but it seems that Bakura is not working alone. You have to listen, I overheard Bakura talking to someone about how he wants to use Yugi as an offering to the gods to accomplish... _something_ and take your power," Seto referred to Yami, "and escape to the real world to cause destruction and rule the place."

"What is he trying to accomplish by getting his hands on Yugi?" Yami gritted his teeth, trying to tolerate his rising anger.

"That's why I need you to figure it out. I saw Bakura sending off the person that he's working with to another world thousands of years into the future. They must be planning something big."

"The future?" Yugi gasped.

"I can stay in this spiritual world to try to bring everything in order while you, my pharaoh and Yugi can go after that guy."

Just then, the crowd of people stared to run towards where the three were standing. Before Yami had the chance to do anything, Seto used his Millennium Rod to create a protective barrier just in time.

"I managed to hear the spell that Bakura used to open a doorway to the future part of the real world!" yelled Seto as he whispered a language that Yugi did not understand. Soon enough, a black portal opened behind Yugi and Yami. "Go and try to stop whatever the evil plot that Bakura and his unknown partner has in their sleeves."

"But Seto, are you going to be okay by yourself?" The king of Egypt was worried for his dear friend. If what everything Seto said was true then he wouldn't stand a chance against everyone in this whole Egypt because of Yami Bakura's change of heart spell.

"I will be fine!" Seto hissed under his breath when he realized the barrier started to shatter, "Now go! Before it's too late!" Then the priest pushed both Yami and Yugi into the portal leading to another dimension, leaving Seto with huge groups of angry mob glaring at him with callous eyes.

* * *

"Where am I falling off too?!" Yugi screamed to the top of his lung as he feared for what was ahead of him. The teenage boy closed his eyes tightly as he continued to fall upside down into who knows where but all o the sudden, he felt strong arms wrapping around his body protectively.

_'Yami…!'_ Yugi thought to himself as he almost forgot, he wasn't alone. The boy gently opened his eyes turned around to see his darker half as the former pharaoh tightened his arms around Yugi.

"Don't worry Yugi, I trust my friend Seto," said the spirit as his tanned skin became lighter just like how Yugi remembered when he first met Yami, "I also know that it is my duty to protect you and make sure Bakura doesn't get his filthy hands on you for his plot."

"Yami…" Yugi felt a small warmth around his heart when he heard Yami's confidence voice, "Thank you and don't forget, I'm here to help you as well," he smiled.

The former pharaoh nodded his head as all of his golden accessories turned into thin air and his Egyptian clothes turned into the same clothes that Yugi wore. Both Yugi's and Yami's Millennium Puzzle fused together to create one pyramid shaped necklace as the two continued to fall.

_'I will devote my life to protect you, partner,'_ Yami thought to himself as darkness consumed both him and his lighter part.

* * *

**(In the real world future time!)**

"Kattobinguda ore!" A 15 years old boy with red and blue hair named Tsukumo Yuma yelled in the middle of the park, causing the blue spirit of the Emperor's Key to shake his head gently.

"Yuma, I don't understand why you decided not to bring your friends today," said the spirit called Astral as he floated around his friend.

"I just feel like looking around this park alone today," said Yuma, "You know, it just feels good to have a private moment once in a while."

"But Yuma, you are definitely not alone," Astral pointed at himself with a confused look. "Am I disturbing this so called privacy of yours?"

"Eh…well… you are kind of like an exception since you can't really go anywhere away from me anyways," Yuma sighed, "But it's totally fine because today I'm in a good mood to answer all your questions about this world," Yuma smiled. The young duelist was usually annoyed when his blue spirit friend asked him various types of random questions that revolved around human world like television, amusement parks, eating and other cool stuff you can do as being human. Astral really knew only about dueling and apart from that, he was clueless.

"So I can ask you any questions, right?" Astral had a small smile formed on his lips as he looked about to find something that interested him.

Just then out from the nowhere, a dark vortex opened and Yugi's body appeared right in front of Astral and Yuma.

"WHAT?!" Yuma screamed as he rubbed his eyes to see if he was not just seeing things. "Did.. did, did, did this guy just come out from the thin air, Astral?!" Yuma pointed Yugi who appeared to be fainted at this moment.

_'…! Yugi, open your eyes,'_ Yami, who no longer had the solid body anymore, stood next to Yugi as a spiritual form not being able to do anything to his partner.

"Yuma, I have two questions for you at this point," said Astral as his mismatched eyes observed everything that happened in front of him.

"My first question, do people have the power to travel through dimensions?" asked Astral, "And my second question is…"

Then Yami realized that the strange alien looking spirit was able to see him just like how the pharaoh was able to see Astral.

"My second question is, who is that person standing next to the unconscious boy?" Astral pointed at Yami but to Yuma's eyes, he didn't see anyone aside from Yugi.

_'What... he can see me?'_ Yami had a confused look on his face while Yuma continued to have a panic attack.

"Gyah! Astral stop fooling around!" Yuma went closer to Yugi's lifeless body and shook him a little, "We have to help this person! Should I call the the emergency? Take him to the hospital? What should I do, Astral?!" Yuma desperately asked for his spiritual friend's help.

* * *

**So.. Astral can see Yami and Yami can see Astral.. LOL! Two serious spiritual characters can see each other now! Now DUEL!**

**Aww poor Yugi and LOL Yuma XP**

**This was supposed to be one shot but should I continue or stop here? haha**

**Please review your opinions! **

**Review~**

**Reivew~**

**Review~**

**Mind Crush!**

**LOL **


	2. Yugi and Yami, meet Yuma and Astral!

**At first I was so excited to see over 150+ views and 100+ visitors for my first chapter and only 2? 3? days passed.**

**But then again, I received 4 reviews so maybe people read the first chapter but thought the story idea was lame T^T **

**I felt a little saddness in my heart. T_T**

**Anyways four people who reviewed, thank you very very very much! I cry to you with happiness.**

**I planned to just stop at chapter 1 (No joke, really haha) But you guys really motivated me to write another chapter!**

**Again you do not have to understand Yugioh Zexal to get this story since everything that you need to know will be provided by me! (it's not even a lot haha) **

**So what happens when Yugi+Yami (the caring couple aww) meets Yuma and Astral (the funny couple?)**

**hahaha sorry I just had to say that XD**

* * *

**Darkness**

"W-where am I?" Yugi looked around but realized that there was only darkness in his every surroundings. He started to feel a little frightened when he noticed that Yami was not around. "Hello? Anyone here?" Yugi raised his voice a little but only heard echo of his own voice.

When the teenage boy was about to take another step further into the darkness, he heard a very familiar voice just few feet away.

"Yugi," called an unknown figure.

Despite the vague look, Yugi knew instantly who the voice belonged to as a rush of relief filled his mind.

"Yami, that's you right?" There was a hint of fear but skepticism was not found in Yugi's voice.

"Open your eyes, Yugi," said the voice, "You fell unconscious."

Yugi blinked a couple of times and tilted his head in confusion. Open his eyes? Does that mean this was all just a dream world? He then closed his eyes and wondered to himself how in the world he was supposed to wake up from this dream state in the first place. It wasn't as easy as how people put it. The boy stomped his foot in a slight frustration and decided to wait until something happened. Just then literally out from the nowhere, he felt someone poking onto his cheek a couple of times,

"W-what? Who's doing that?" grumbled Yugi as he touched his own face.

"Open your eyes and you'll see," said the voice that clearly belonged to the pharaoh.

**XxI Vow to Protect YouxX**

**Back to Human World~**

"Oy… are you okay?I don't know if I should take you to the hospital or not," Yuma pleaded with desperate eyes, "I mean I can't just explain to the doctors that you popped out of nowhere and got hurt like that," Yuma continued to poke Yugi's face and waited to see if there was any response.

Yami, now in his spiritual form decided to wait and see what would happen. He would have taken over Yugi's body if there was something dangerous lurking around but Yuma seemed harmless to the pharaoh's eyes. A little too harmless seems; he looked a like the type that would be clumsy. At the same time, the spirit was interested in another alien looking being that floated not too far from him.

"So you can see me?" Yami decided to start the conversation and met his eyes with the blue spirit with mismatched eyes.

"Your observation is correct," Astral gently nodded his head with motionless face expression as always, "Since we are both spiritual beings that cannot see been by normal humans, that could one of the factor why we can interact with each other."

"Ha? Astral, who are you talking to?" Yuma raised his eyebrow in confusion and gasped when Yugi started to stir. The boy with tri-colored hair slowly opened his eye and Yuma decided to give some room.

"Yugi are you feeling alright?" Yami placed his see through hand on to Yugi's shoulder, showing concern.

"Arg… I feel like I got hit on the head when I fell," Yugi winced as he slowly got up.

"Well you kinda did when you uhh.." Yuma scratched his hair in the awkward moment, "Literally fell from nowhere?"

"Ah! Wait, do I know you?" Yugi jumped back with both of his purple colored eyes finally wide open.

_-Don't worry Yugi, when we came to this world, you fainted and that boy found you-_ said Yami as he used his mind link to send the message. The spirit of the puzzle didn't fully trust Yuma and Astral just yet and since Astral was able to hear Yami, the pharaoh thought it would be wise to keep his mouth closed and talk to Yugi through their mind.

"Yugi," said Astral as he gently looked at Yuma with his yellow colored eyes.

"Astral! It's no time to play joke with my name!" Yuma turned to his dueling partner and argued, "Toma, Yugi and what's next on the joke list?"

"Yugi," sighed Astral as he pointed at the boy with the Millennium puzzle, "That's his name, Yuma."

"Yu..gi?" Yuma pronounced the unfamiliar name.

"Hold on! How in the world do you know my name like that!" Yugi was surprised that Yuma just magically guessed his name correctly, "And.. who were you talking to just a second ago?"

"Well you see I have this… ghost friend," Yuma placed an air quotation mark, "Who… just told me… that your name was, Yugi."

"But Yuma, I'm no ghost," said Astral with monotone.

_-Is this guy crazy or something?-_ Yugi furrowed his eyebrow and Yuma noticed the strange look that Yugi was giving to him.

_-Yugi, he's telling the truth-_ Yami sent the message, _-You might not be able to see him but he is just like us.-_

_-Huh? What do you mean, Yami?-_ Yugi turned to see the pharaoh's eye observing something that was next to Yuma.

-_He seems to also possess a spirit just like how my soul is inside the puzzle you're wearing-_ said Yami.

"Okay listen," Yuma tried to explain, "I know it sounds all freaky but before you start pointing fingers at me and telling me that I have to see a psychiatrist about having an imaginary friend I-"

"That necklace," Yugi finally noticed the yellow key shaped necklace that Yuma wore, "Does it… allow you to talk to.. a certain someone?" Yugi carefully asked, suddenly feeling a little tired as well.

"This is Emperor's Key that my father gave to me before…" Yuma trailed off and quickly changed the subject, "H-how do you know? Hold that thought, so you don't think I'm crazy?" Yuma remembered when he tried to explain Astral, his dueling partner and a close friend to his other friends at school, people laughed at him for having a creative mind. Yuma's friends laughed at him for being too old to have an imaginary friend!

"Well, my ghost friend," Yugi also used the air quotation marks to joke with Yuma and Yami chuckled a little at his partner's attempt, "told me that there is another spiritual being standing next to you. So unless we are both going crazy, I say you and I have something that makes us slightly different from rest of the people, don't you think?"

"No way…!" Yuma's eyes glowed as he pointed at Yugi's Millennium Puzzle, "I thought that necklace was a little too big but don't tell me that is no ordinary jewelry!"

"I'm afraid not uh…" Yugi trailed off when he realized he still didn't ask for this stranger's name.

"Tsuko Yuma!" Yuma proudly pointed at himself, "Nice to meet you, Yugi!" Yuma placed his hand out to shake Yugi's hand.

"Heh, nice to meet you Yuma," Yugi smiled warmly and took Yuma's hand. At the same time, Yugi started to feel his energy getting drained out and he felt his body shaking a little. Soon enough, Yugi's legs couldn't support his own weight anymore and the boy was about to fall backward if it wasn't for Yuma's hand continuing to hold tightly on to his.

"O-Oy! Are you feeling alright?" Yuma pulled back Yugi a little forward, "You didn't look too good when I first saw you popping out from another zone in the first place."

_-Yugi, maybe you should let me take over-_ said Yami _–I think you being in the spiritual world when we reunited must have drained some energy from your body-_ Yami's eyes softened but they were still filled with concern for Yugi's situation.

_-Okay, thanks-_ Yugi quickly thanked the pharaoh and closed his eyes as he felt his soul getting gently lifted into thin air. Yugi felt more relaxed since he didn't experience the straining body pressure anymore when he turned into the spiritual form.

"What the..?" Yuma closed his eyes a little when the Millennium Puzzle started to emit bright colors in various directions.

"What's this?" Astral was also fascinated at what happened in front of him as he saw Yugi's physical body turning into a spiritual form.

When the alteration was complete, Yami was now in control of the body.

"….! W-wha?" Yuma blinked a couple of times as he quickly released Yami's hand. The new guy still looked similar to Yugi but he was definitely not Yugi. The person was now slightly taller, had sharp eyes and the few yellow parts of the hair were standing upward. "Wait, wait wait wait wait! What happened to, Yugi?!" Yuma pointed at Yami and the pharaoh smiled at the boy's funny reaction.

_-It took your friends quite a while until they found out that you and I are two different people but this Yuma seems to catch on pretty face-_ Yami laughed to himself.

_-Thanks, I'll let my friend know-_ Yugi gave the sarcastic look as he soot next to Yami in his spiritual form.

"That was the other person that I asked you about, Yuma," Astral quickly jumped in. "He was the sprit that stood next to, Yugi."

"Gyah! Too many confusion!" Yuma used both of his hands to scratch his hair in confusion, "Where did Yugi go? And so you were that ghost friend that Yugi was talking about? But wait, if you're supposed to be a sprit then how come I can see you in a solid form! What in the world is going on here!" Yuma screamed and was glad that there were currently no people in the secluded park.

"Calm down, uh…" Yami looked through his memory to search for the boy's name again. The king of Egypt knew one of his weaknesses was that he was just not good at memorizing people's name. He remembered suffering for weeks every time when his palace acquired a new servant or a priest.

_-It's Yuma-_ Yugi kindly jumped in, _-You really need to learn how to memorize names, Yami-_

"Right, Yuma," said the pharaoh and Yuma was once again surprised at the deeper tone that Yami had compared to Yugi. "It's not that confusing once Yugi and I explain the situation and why we had to arrive in this specific time era."

"So… now you're not Yugi?" Yuma sighed and hoped that he would be receiving some answers pretty soon.

"Well… no," replied Yami. He did remember Yugi's friends calling him Yugi as well and the pharaoh thought that was rather amusing. "My name is…" Then Yami pondered for a few seconds. Which name should he tell Yuma?

_-Say that you're Atem, Yami. I mean, that is your real name-_

"My name is Yami," said the pharaoh as he smiled at Yugi's surprised reaction.

_-Eh? But why?-_

_-I'm just used to with you calling me Yami so I grew attached to that name more than Atem to be honest-_ Yami smiled.

"Yami huh..?" Yuma thought it was strange to hear that someone's name literally meant dark but then again, Yuma thought that particular name matched the pharaoh very well because of the mysterious look and the firm voice that Yami had.

"Yuma, I think I figured out something," said Astral after a long silence that he had for a while. The blue spirit observed both Yuma's and Yugi's special necklace and calculated to see if there was a way to fused two energies together so they can all see each other without any problems.

-_Woah… is that the spirit that you were talking about?-_ Yugi asked Yami as Astral floated between Yuma and the pharaoh.

_-Yes, not like what you expected?-_ Yami gave a quick glance at his partner.

-_He... doesn't look like he's from Earth at all!-_

When Astral floated between Yami and Yuma, he extended his blue arms, each one touching either the Emperor's Key or the Millennium Puzzle. The blue sprit then closed his eyes and felt two separate energies flowing inside him as he tried to connect them as one. Both magical items began to glow instantly and Yuma worriedly looked at his spiritual friend.

"Astral, you sure you know what you're doing?" Yuma called out to his friend but Astral remained quiet as his mind searched for a link between Yuma's and Yugi's necklace.

Few seconds later, Astral admitted a huge blue light for a brief moment. The Emperor's Key and the Millennium Puzzle stopped glowing in golden color anymore.

"Astral what did you do?" Yuma gave a curious look and Astral had a slight proud look on his lips.

"See for yourself, Yuma," Astral pointed forward.

In front of Yuma's eyes, he not only saw Yami but Yugi was there as well in a see through form! Yami, even though he was at his physical form, was now able to see Astral also.

"..! Yugi! You… died?" asked Yuma and Astral face palmed himself and shook his head in disagreement.

"Observation number thirty," Astral opened his mouth, "Yuma is slow at understanding."

"What?! No I'm not Astral! You better not save that observation in your memory!" Yuma fumed and both Yugi and Yuma laughed Yuma and Astral's interaction.

"Once the observation is made, I cannot simply erase them," Astral shrugged his shoulder.

"Calm down, Yuma. I know this is a little weird to understand," said Yugi in his spiritual body.

"Yugi! So… what's going on again?" asked Yuma and it was till weird for him to be talking to another spirit other than Astral.

"Yugi and I can switch our bodies because both of our minds rest in this Millennium Puzzle," Yami explained as he pointed at the pyramid shaped object chained around his neck. "Yugi was feeling a little tired so I decided to let his mind rest and take over instead."

"Woah… that is pretty awesome! Hey Astral, do you think we can do that sort of stuff?"

"Yuma, I believe it would be strange for people to see me if that was even possible," commented Astral.

"Right… floating blue flashlight, not a good way to attract people," Yuma agreed. "But still, I'm surprised your spirit at least looks like someone from this world."

"Yugi and I were also talking about...um..."

"Astral," said Yugi to save Yami, "You're welcome your majesty," Yugi winked playfully.

"Ah yes, how _Astral_ didn't look like he was from this world," said Yami with a small sweat drop.

"It is true that I am not from Earth," said Astral with his arms crossed and floated closer to Yuma's side, "I am an energy being from a place called Astral World. That seemed to be where I received my name, Astral. Although that is all I can remember…" Astral trailed off with a hint of melancholy look on his face.

"Don't worry Astral, I promised to you that I would help you gather your memory, remember?" Yuma tried to encourage his friend.

"No way! When I first met Yami he had his memory lost too!" Yuma couldn't hold back his surprise. This person name Yuma was going through things that Yugi himself went through!

"You also lost your memories before?" Astral asked the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle.

Yami nodded and when he was about to speak, Yugi took his sentence right from his mouth.

"When Yami's soul was released from this necklace," Yugi pointed at the Millennium Puzzle, "he didn't know his own name, why he was trapped in there in the first place and his past! I think the only thing that Yami retained was his dueling skills," Yugi laughed softly.

"What do you mean the _only_ thing, Yugi?" Yami narrowed his eyes playfully, knowing that his lighter half was just bantering around.

"Astral too!" Yuma couldn't contain his excitement, knowing that there was another person in the world who was experiencing the very similar situation, "The only thing he knew was his name and where he was from. Oh and just like Yami, Astral only knew how to duel.** Literally. Only. How. To. Duel!** He would ask me silly stuff like why cartoons that you see on television are not real, why people eat, what are dogs, what are cats, why people get jealous and the list goes on and on!"

"That must have been tiresome," Yami murmured.

"I'm glad you were at least from this world," Yugi agreed, "Yami was a little confused with technologies since he was an Egyptian Pharaoh in his past but he knew the basics of human life."

"Woah! Pharaoh! That is so cool!" Yuma jumped up and down, wanting to learn more about Yami and Yugi.

"Yuma, what is this Egyptian Pharaoh you guys discussed about?" Astral's eyes lit up in as curiosity kicked him, "Is it something that is related to a field magic card? Perhaps a history of duel monsters?"

"See what I mean?" Yuma chuckled at his spiritual blue friend, "An Egyptian Pharaoh is-"

Then Yuma's stomach started to grumble really loud. While Yugi laughed at the whole situation, Yami just had a slight surprised look on his face, amazed that someone's stomach can make such a loud noise from hunger.

"So Egyptian Pharaoh is something that you eat when you're starving?" asked Astral with a serious tone and caused the spirit of the puzzle to let out a small laughter escape his lips as well.

"Don't laugh at me! I didn't eat lunch yet!" Yuma's face glowed in red, "Oh wait I know! Why don't we go somewhere and eat? I bet we have tons of things to talk about. First off, how in the world did you guys get here?"

"Sounds okay to me Yu-"

"Yuma," Yugi interrupted again with a hint of grin.

"I knew his name this time, Yugi," said Yami.

"You know, just in case the." Then Yugi decided to use their mind link in order to keep their conversation a little private.

_-Do you think it's okay? I mean, don't we have to start looking for that guy who is working with Bakura?-_

_-I don't sense anything dangerous so far and I believe it might be best for us to learn few things about this era from Yuma and Astral-_ Yami thought for a moment before he continued _-They also possess special powers that is beyond normal and who knows, maybe they might be what Bakura's partner is after_-

_-Right, makes sense to me-_ Yugi nodded his head.

"I know there is this great pizza place in Hear-tLand City!" said Yuma

"So.. uh… how did this pizza look like again?" The pharaoh murmured his question sheepishly. He remembered his partner mentioning about it once but at that time, Yami was inside the puzzle going through the maze searching for his clues for the past.

"I think Yami and Astral might get along well, Yugi," said Yuma as he winked at Yugi's see through figure.

"Yuma, was pizza something that your sister made back at your house?" Astral also jumped into question.

"Hahaha, Astral that was pancake!" Yuma laughed as Astral continued to run through his memory database to look for a food called pizza.

"I hope you'll like it to," Yugi smiled at the pharaoh who continued to have an unsure look on his face expression. "I mean, you liked Burger World, right?"

"Burger World…" Yami retraced his memory when Yugi allowed him to take over in order for Yami to try the hamburger. "It was better than food they serve to me in Egypt."

As they all slowly walked to a famous pizza restaurant that Yuma talked about, Astral noticed that Yami had a duel deck on the right side of his blue jean.

"Cards... could Yugi and Yami also be duelists?" Astral whispered to himself.

Little did Yuma know that he was hanging with the famous King of Games in Duel Monsters but he was going to find that out real soon.

* * *

**Yuma is going to be in for a surprise when he finds out who he is really talking to! **

**Summon three Egyptian Gods Yami! GoGoGO!**

**Even though I said that this will be light puzzleshipping, I'm still thinking haha XD**

**Should I make this into Puzzleshipping or more towards brotherly caring bond between Yami and Yugi? **

**Throw me some opinions because I like both ideas and can't decide! Kyah!**

**Please please please review if you enjoyed it. T_T **


	3. Behold, Yami's Slifer the Sky Dragon!

**Thank you so much for the reviews! I usually reply back in private message as a thank you but I'm feeling a little sick T_T **

**I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"This place just opened and the pizza is great! I come here with my friends all the time," said Yuma as he proudly opened one of the Italian restaurant that was located in the center of Heart-Land City.

The place inside was just plain amazing in terms of... everything! The size of the restaurant was enormous and the place was crowded with people. What amazed both Yugi and Yami were the fact that the waiters and most of the workers were these oval shaped robots with happy faces. They served guests drinks, food and also received bills. The second floor was made out of see through glass and there were decorations of hearts on the walls. On the center of the first floor, there was a giant word that read: Heart Burning** (For those that watch Zexal, you know what this is haha)**

"T-This place is so... futuristic," Yugi in his spiritual form murmured next to his darker half.

Yami just stared at the whole place with amazement while Yuma just grinned at their reaction.

"You call this place futuristic?" said Yuma as he waved at one of the robots, "Geeze, now I really wonder where you guys came from."

"How many guests?" asked the oval shaped robot.

"Four I-I mean two please, hehheh" Yuma felt a small sweat drop on his forehead when he almost made a mistake. Sometimes he had to keep reminding himself that other people currently cannot see Astral and Yugi.

"Two guests! Two guests! Please come this way!" said the robot as it directed to one of the seating area on the first floor that was near the window seating.

"Indeed this place is a lot more upgraded than where we come from," Yami finally added when they all sat down.

"Wow you guys seriously have a lot of things to tell us," said Yuma. "Oh and I guess I should do the ordering since I know this place the best."

When Yami and Yugi simply nodded in an agreement, Yuma picked up a thin looking menu that looked more like some kind of tablet and touched the pictures of pizza and drinks that he wanted to get. When the ordering was done, Yuma placed the menu down onto the table beside him.

"That's it?" Yugi blinked a couple of times, "Wait, so... you guys don't call people over and order the food?"

"Haha I mean, there are some stores that still keep up with the old tradition but not here," answered Yuma, "So you have to tell me now! Around what year are you guys from? How did you guys even get here in the first place? Is it like a time travel?"

"Well, I guess you could put it that way," replied Yugi.

"Cool! I didn't know those things were possible!"

"Yugi and I are also curious to see what the time line is in this world as well," said Yami.

"From where we came from, the year is still around 2013."

As soon as Yuma heard the date, his eyes went wide open and couldn't keep his mouth closed for several seconds.

"2013? How far back is that Yuma?" The blue spirit asked his partner since he was not aware of how humans distinguished time with various numbers.

"That's like a huge amount of years gap Astral!" said Yuma as he scratched his year, "You guys are old enough to be in my history text book! No wonder you guys thought this pizza place was futuristic."

"I presume this place is hundreds of years into the future compared to where we came from then..." murmured Yami.

Just then, the kitchen door opened and the robot waitress came in with the large food tray on its hand. When the huge pizza arrived, Yuma had his mouth all watering with saliva while Astral shook his head but slightly smiled at Yuma's funny behavior. A lot of the toppings that were used on this particular pizza had heart shapes all over but the smell was delicious.

"Yugi do you want to switch over so you can eat?" Yami shifted his attention to the other spirit who just gently shook his head in response.

"I have pizza all the time back in my world, Yami. You on the other hand don't so consider this as a fun experience for you," Yugi smiled.

"Oh right you said he's a spirit from ancient Egypt right? Then you got to try this," chuckled Yuma.

Yuma used the knife to carefully cut the pizza into smaller slices and placed on of them onto Yami's plate before handing it over.

"At least pizza looks similar to the ones in our timeline," bantered Yugi as Yami picked up the slice and gently took a bite before placing it down. Yuma and Astral just continued to stared at the former pharaoh until he finished chewing and swallowed the food.

"Well? Well? How is it?" asked Yuma as he picked up his own slice.

"It's... pretty good," replied Yami, "It might not have been so bad if I was born in this time line." Yami picked up the pizza again and continued to eat slowly.

"Ha! I knew it! Everyone loves pizza!" yelled Yuma and he started to gulp down his own.

Yugi continued to watch his darker half enjoying the food and he just couldn't help to softly chuckle at how happy and amazed the spirit of the puzzle looked. Usually it is considered rare to see the pharaoh making a happy expression since his personality is serious most of the time especially during duels. Yugi was glad that the taste suited Yami and was a little upset at himself for not treating Yami to these sorts of food when they used to share the body together.

"Observation thirty one. Difference between pancake and pizza is that pizza has numerous decorations which humans seems to enjoy more while pancake is plain most of the time with an occasional dressing called syrup," noted Astral and Yuma, Yugi and Yami were all able to hear that as well.

"Well, I guess you can put it that way Astral. I mean, I do love pizza more than pancake," laughed Yuma and he already went for a second slice. Yami was slightly shocked to see that the boy was already done with his first piece while he was still finishing his.

"Why does Astal make observations?" Yami asked, "Is it because he is not from Earth?"

"Yup it looks like it. When it comes to human world, Astral is clueless as ever."

"Which is the reason why I try to learn by making observations and keeping them in my memory bank. You should try making observations during schools as well, Yuma," said Astral and this caused Yuma to get flushed in red.

"Thanks Astral! You don't have to say that in front of my new friends!" said Yuma with his cheeks colored in red now.

"You're welcome." Astral sounded pretty confident and Yuma gave himself a face palm before laughing away.

"I was being sarcastic! Remember I told you about sarcasm that people make when you were saying-"

"One thousandth customer! One thousandth customer!" two of the oval shaped robot suddenly came to Yuma and Yami's table with a white box that had a label which read: Duel Disk Sets. People who sat nearby our two main characters clapped their hands and said few congratulation remarks. Couple of people wished that they could have been selected as this week's one thousandth customer.

"Um... did we win something?" Yugi was still perplexed at the whole situation and Astral was just as confused as he was.

"Sweet! I'm guessing we're their one thousandth customer! I didn't know this place had secret events going on!" Yuma smiled.

"Gift set! Gift set! Gift set for one thousandth customer!" chirped two robots as they raised both of their metal hands and placed the white box on top of the pizza table.

"Duel disk set?" Yami read the label.

"You should keep this as a souvenir from the future, Yami," said Yuma as he pushed the white box to the darker spirit. "This must be the new duel disk that recently came out this month!"

"But Yuma we can't... I mean you were the one who payed for all this so maybe it's fair if you get it," said Yugi.

"Yugi's right. If this is something new then don't you wish to have it as well?" added Yami as he opened the white box since he was also curious to see how much the duel disks have evolved compared to the timeline where he and Yugi came from.

"It's cool I already have my own duel disk. Wait, it kinda sounds like you guys know what a duel disk is. Don't tell me, are you guys also a duelist as well?!" Yuma swallowed the last piece of pizza and waited for Yami to speak.

"Yes, Yugi and I are also duelist from different time line. When we first started dueling, there was no duel disk to began." Yami's purple colored eyes carefully observed the duel disk that was folded neatly in the gift box. There were a couple of new features that he was not aware of.

"But we have duel disk now and it is nice to have things more portable!" Yugi laughed as he witnessed a strange device in the white box. "What's that?"

Yuma looked at where Yugi's finger pointed.

"Duel Gazer. Also commonly known as D-Gazer," replied the blue spirit. "I noticed that humans use this when they are dueling in order to see the duel setting in an augmented reality."

"They certainty did not have this in our timeline." Yami picked up the Duel Gazer which had yellow color for the screen and had dark purple color surrounding it. Yugi noticed that the former pharaoh was also interested by the new technology and couldn't help but to ask him the next question.

"Why don't you try putting it on your eye?" asked Yugi and Yuma nodded his head in an agreement.

"W-Well, it is a little odd.. don't you think?" Yami tried to back out from the offer since trying out new things that he didn't know too well was not really his style.

"Yeah Yugi's right! Or better yet do you currently have your deck?" Yuma was eager to know if Yami or Yugi had duel monster cards from the past. It would be an exciting duel and maybe they can become a lot closer after this! Yuma had the tendency to make a strong bond with people whom he dueled with.

"Yugi?" Yami turned to his partner who is in his spiritual form.

"Yup check your left pocket Yami. My deck should be there and don't worry all the cards are the same as before."

"Cool then let's finish eating here and go out to duel!" Yuma hurriedly went to his third slid while Yami went for his second.

"Wait Yuma, I thought we have some questions to why Yugi and Yami came to this world in the first place? Don't you think we should settle that first?" Astral suggested.

"But Astral~~~! Don't you want to see how great Yugi and Yami duel? Just one short one please?"

_-Well... It's no use walking around in this place and looking for that guy who's working with Bakura. If we duel with Yuma, maybe our duel could attract him?-_ Yugi sent the mind link message to Yami.

_-Indeed. If we are into the future, I'm also guessing that our monsters could potentially attract many people including Bakura's servant- _

_-Yeah and maybe after this duel, we can ask Yuma more about this place that could aid us in our mission-_ Yugi quickly glanced at Yuma and Astral before sending another message to his darker self._ -Their lives are so similar...like us. I think it would be beneficial for us to become closer with them as well-_

_-I just hope Priest Seto is doing okay back in my time...- _Yami didn't really meant to send this last sentence to Yugi but it just happened by accident. Yugi on the other hand didn't really say anything but he placed his hand gently on top of Yami's shoulder letting him know that he worries for Yami's friend.

"It's alright Astral. I think one dueling couldn't hurt and we could learn more about each other," said Yugi to the blue spirit.

"Are you sure, Yugi?" Astral once again looked at the deck of cards and was curious to see what kind of cards Yami and Yugi possessed.

"I accept your challenge, Yuma." Yami also agreed with this lighter half. Yuma's eyes sparkled in excitement as he raised his right hand in the air, attracting some nearby customers.

"Yeah! This is going to be super awesome! Kattobingu da ore!"

"Kattobingu?" Yugi mimicked what Yuma said in confusion. "What's that?"

"It's what my father taught me that I use it more like my catchphrase when-"

"When Yuma is in a good mood or during duels." Astral finished for his partner.

"Thanks for the explanation again, Astral," Yuma said with full of sarcasm but of course, Astral failed to catch this again.

"You're very welcome Yuma," said Astral proudly and Yugi chuckled again at their funny interaction.

"Anyways, what Astral forgot to add is to never give up and always go up for the challenge. But let's hurry go outside and duel first!" Yuma pulled out his wallet and called out to the robot. "Can you give us a check here?"

* * *

"Alright! Let's start this duel! Duel Disk Set!" Yuma's red duel disk on his left hand opened as he reached out for his next gadget and placed it over his eye, "D-Gazer, Set!"

"W-wait hold on Yuma!" Yugi waved his hand to the duelist in front of him, "You have to tell us how this... works! We don't have D-Gazer in our word!"

Yami on the other hand wore the violet colored duel disk on his left arm but looked at the D-Gazer with a hint of confusion.

"All you have to do is just wear that," Yuma pointed his index finger at the new D-Gazer Yami held in his hand. "Just wear it and the augmented reality should start by itself."

"Well you heard what Yuma said Yami. Let's see how you look like in that new D-Gazer," Yugi laughed when he saw the unsure look that was written all over the pharaoh's face.

"Are you sure you don't want to duel him?" Yami complained a little as he placed the D-Gazer onto his left side of the eye.

"Hey it suits you, Yami! Wish there was some kind of mirror near by so you can see how you look like!"

As soon as Yami wore the yellow screened D-Gazer, he saw numbers mostly zero and one covering up the whole area near him and the small computer that stated: Augmented Reality Link Completed. Everything still looked the same around him but now Yami was able to see a medium sized screen floating in front of Yuma with his name and the life point that read 4000.

"Wow.. it's some kind of hologram," murmured Yugi since he was also able to see exactly what Yami was seeing without the D-Gazer because they currently shared one body.

"I'm surprised how much duel disk evolved so much in the future." Yami blinked several times.

"Yami are you ready to duel now? I'm so curious what kind of cards you have from the past!" yelled Yuma and Astral simply sighed in his partner's childish behavior.

"Hmph, it's been a while since I dueled ever since I returned to after life," said Yami as he selected five cards from his deck that was set onto his duel disk.

"I'm pretty sure you're as excited as Yuma is," answered Yugi as Yami showed him the five cards.

"Let's began this," Astral called out to both of the duelist although, the blue spirit couldn't help but to feel strange power which came from the former pharaoh. He decided to keep this information to himself instead of telling Yuma since Astral didn't know too much about this strange sensation yet.

"Duel," both Yami and Yuma cried out at the same time.

"Hey I think those people are going to duel," two couples pointed where Yami and Yuma located as they both wore their D-Gazer. "Let's go have a look!"

"Isn't that Yuma? The winner from World Duel Carnival?"

"There is a duel nearby! Let's check it out!"

Soon enough, there were crowds of people wearing their duel disk in order to see the match between the known Tsukumo Yuma and mysterious person named Yami. What people also didn't know was that Yuma was up against a king of games himself.

-Wow look at all these people we attracted- Yugi sent another mind link to his darker half.

-Yes but I don't sense anything cryptic in particular. Let's hope that this duel can also bring out our suspect as well-

"Since I asked for the duel, I guess I would start this off. First I play one monster in defense mode and place one card face down to end my turn."

Two face down cards appeared in front of Yuma which one of them was in a defense mode for an unknown monster.

"Very well then, I draw." The card that Yami drew was his favorite card, Dark Magician.

-Dark Magician already? That was a pretty good draw- Yugi complimented.

-Hmmm but I don't plan to summon the Dark Magician yet. If we want to gain attention of Bakura's servant in this world then we have to summon something obvious-

-What do you mean by obvious... oh wait... are you planning to summon one of the Egyptian God cards?- Yugi's eyes went wide open.

-It seems that Three Egyptian God cards followed us when we traveled into the future. I can sense one of the God cards right now-

-I guess that would attract Bakura's servant for sure- Yugi nodded in agreement.

"I am a little curious what kind of duel monsters exist in this world, Yuma so I would be making the first attack movement," said Yami as he placed one monster card into the field. "I summon King's Knight in an attack mode. Next I play two cards face down."

A man with long yellow hair and yellow armor with large sword came out into the battle field.

"Now King's Knight, attack Yuma's face down card!" Yami pointed and Yugi was slightly surprised at Yami's duel strategy. He was usually not the type that would attack on his first turn but at the same time, Yami probably wanted to learn more about Yuma's monsters and his defense skills.

"The card you placed face down... it's Gogogo Golem, correct?" Astral whispered to Yuma and the boy grinned in response.

When King's Knight (Attack: 1600) was about to attack Yuma's face down monster, the card flipped and revealed Gogogo Golem (Defense: 1500)

"King's Knight is going to destroy that... rock looking monster," said Yugi.

But instead of seeing destruction, Gogogo Golem managed to push back King's Knight back into his side of the field.

"What? Why didn't the monster get destroyed?" Yugi was surprised but the pharaoh thought that it had something to do with the monster's effect.

"When Gogogo Golem is in defense mode, it cannot be destroyed once per turn," Astral explained before Yuma had the chance to open his mouth.

"Thank you Mr. Smart" said Yuma but quickly added to his dueling partner, "And yes that was sarcasm!"

"That's a pretty cool monster with defense effect," Yami commented, "I don't think I've ever seen that kind of monster in my time. I will end my turn here for now."

"I think it's pretty clear that Yuma is going to win!" One of the girl shouted as Yuma drew his card from his deck.

"Heh if you think that's cool wait until what I can really do!" yelled Yuma as he presented another monster card directly to the spirit of the puzzle.

"That monster looks really similar to Dark Magician," Yugi whispered to his partner and Yami was amazed to see that Yuma also possessed a similar looking card.

"I summon Gagaga Magician to the field," said Yuma as the magician that resembled Dark Magician with metal chains wrapped around his body appeared into the field.

"Gagaga and Gogogo...future duel monsters have funny names," Yugi laughed a little and Yami also smiled at his lighter half's reaction.

"Now I'm going to use XYz summon and..." Yuma was about to make his next move but Astral quickly interrupted him.

"Yuma activate GagagaMirror in order to increase the tribute monsters," Astral pointed at the card with his glowing blue finger.

"I-I know that Astral!" Yuma grumbled "I was just testing to see if you were paying attention to this duel, heh. Next I activate GagagaMirror."

"Gagaga.. Mirror?" Yami tilted his head in confusion.

"It's a spell card that allowed Yuma to use Gagaga Magician as two tribute XYz instead of one," Astral explained again.

"Geeze Astral let me explain sometimes!' Yuma jumped up and down in frustration and couple of the people in the crowd that Yuma's action was quite strange. But then again, it was believed that Yuma would talk to himself as a good luck during the duel since normal people obviously cannot see Astral.

"What's Xyz summon?" Yugi whispered and Yuma managed to hear his question.

"I'll show you. Now I overlay Gogogo Golem and two Gagaga Magician!" Yuma raised his hand as three monsters each turned into bright yellow balls and literally got sucked into a huge shiny vortex that appeared in front of Yuma and Yugi. "Now the network of these three monsters will create XYz summon! Come out Number 39: Kibou Hope!"

A giant robot looking monster with yellow and white color appearance made it to the stage with three yellow circle things floating around the monster.

"W-what just happened? Xyz summon? Number monster?" Yugi stared at the giant monster that had number 39 written on the shoulder.

"Since I just summoned Hope, I can't really attack so I play another card face down and end my turn. Oh and I should warn you guys, Hope is a Number monster and Number can only be defeated by another Number," Yuma winked.

-That's not possible. We don't have Number monster, Yami- Yugi turned to his partner who doesn't seem to have too much worried look on his face.

-Then I guess summoning one of our God cards is a must play now- Yami grinned as he pulled one card from the deck.

"I draw. Next I summon Queen's Knight form my hand and because I have King's Knight and Queen's knight together, this also allows me to summon Jack's Knight from my deck."

As soon as Yami played both monster cards down, a woman with red armor and another knight with blue armor appeared facing Yuma's Number monster.

"Next I activate Pot of Greed from my hand which allowed me to draw two more cards," said Yami.

"Pot of Greed? I haven't heard that card before," said Yuma while Astral watched the former pharaoh draw two cards. Suddenly, Astral felt a great intense energy coming out from the specific card that Yami picked out from his deck.

"What's this... this power... it's something greater than Numbers..." The dueling spirit accidently spoke what was on his mind which caused Yuma to focus his attention to his friend.

"Hey what's wrong Astral?" Yuma asked with worry.

"Yuma... be careful," Astral stated.

-It looks like Astral sensed the Egyptian God card I pulled- Yami looked at his right had and no doubt, there was Slifer the Sky Dragon in his hand."

-I think Astral has some kind of special powers like you do, Yami-

"Get ready Yuma," Yami warned the boy as he continued the duel, "I sacrifice Jack's Knight, Queen's Knight and King's Knight in order to summon..." Yami raised his hand with the Egyptian God card between his fingers. "Slifer the Sky Dragon! Show yourself my divine beast!"

"The wha..wha... what?!" Yuma yelled and just then the whole sky turned dark as if it was night time already and thunder storm came out of nowhere.

"What did that guy say? Slifer?" Few watchers asked each other as wind continued to blow onto their faces.

"Astral! What's going on?" Yuma asked as he placed both of his hands on top of his head in order to block out the thunder noises.

"Just as I thought... Egyptian God card," Astral murmured.

* * *

**Sorry nothing too interesting happened so far! I don't want to suddenly jump into fluffy scenes just yet**

**Please Please Review! Please! T_T **


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